


Five Times Sentinel Steve got another Guide to help him out and one time he got his rightful one

by LottaCharlene



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Sentinels and Guides Are Known, Light Angst, M/M, Sentinel/Guide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-07
Updated: 2018-03-07
Packaged: 2019-03-28 07:57:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13899702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LottaCharlene/pseuds/LottaCharlene
Summary: Steve has trouble finding his mate, although he is right in front of his nose.





	1. The Shootout

One minute, everything was loaded with a tension so thick you could have cut it with a knife, and the other hell broke loose.

They had planned their attack on the gun smugglers, but as always, plans didn’t sit well with those perps.

Danny ducked behind a barrel, as bullets zipped through the air and riddled the wall behind him. He took a moment to reach out psychically to his team members to ensure they were all fine. Kono’s mind was a maelstrom of calculated hatred for the perps and excited joy about her new sniper rifle. Chin was focused and calm as always. Steve’s mind was the usual solid wall that blocked Danny out. As a general guide, that always worried him to no end, but as he wasn’t Steve’s bonded partner, just the one to keep him in check long enough so the Sentinel Center of Hawaii could continue their tedious and inefficient search for a solid match, he couldn’t really do anything about it. 

Danny closed his eyes and drew a quick mental map of the people in the spacious warehouse. One gun dealer tried to sneak up on him from a corner that was difficult to keep in view for the others. Danny rolled over on his stomach and shot him clean in the shoulder. The perks of being a guide, he thought smugly.

Steve jumped down from a container in front of him, gun leveled and eyes hard and cold. Systematically he scanned the area and took out two men that tried to flee through the window. A shiver went down Danny’s spine when Steve was in his sentinel military mode. He never ever wanted to be on the receiving end of that stare.

“Sentinel! Sentinel!” bellowed one of the remaining smugglers. Danny didn’t like that at all, but before he could reach Steve to pull him out of his light zone on his sight, the sun exploded before his eyes.

He groaned in pain from the flying shrapnel that hit him in the chest and from the onslaught of panic and agony that Steve now projected unfiltered directly onto him. He struggled for air and black dots danced before his eyes as he tried to compensate the horrors Steve was feeling at the moment; blinded, deaf, disorientated, panicked and screaming for his guide. But there was none, just Danny, lying in the dirt himself and being useless for a sentinel like Steve. 

His ears rang and he needed what seeme to be ages to come to his feet again. As he looked around, it dawned on him that he had been in fact out for some time. Red and blue lights flickered across the building, police officers collected the perps that were able to walk without medical treatment in the first place. 

“Boss, you alright?” Kono came rushing to him. Her hair was dusty and she sported a scratch on her forehead, but otherwise she looked fine.

“What happened? How long was I out?” he asked with a sandpaper-raspy voice.

“They threw a sentinel stun grenade at Steve. Unfortunately, you were pretty close as well. Knocked you out for good five minutes, I guess.”

Danny groaned. He still felt Steve inside his head, but the panic was dulled and the agony slowly decreasing. “How’s Steve?”

“He zoned, but the back-up brought the EMS straight with them as soon as they heard it was Five-0 calling for help. I have no idea, why, though”, she laughed, supporting Danny carefully as they walked slowly to the ambulance that was parked in the driveway. “They got a B-class guide on board with them, she’s helping Steve out of his zone.”

Danny grunted his approval. He felt old and beaten, letting his young and sexy co-worker guide him to the doctor like some grandpa. They passed Steve on their way. He lay upon a stretcher, eyes wide open, clutching the hand of a paramedic that talked to him in a soothing voice. Danny couldn’t resist to reach out to him to make sure he really was alright. There still was a lot of confusion emitted by Steve, but the waves began to settle and smooth out as he pulled himself along the voice of the paramedic guide. Steve’s eyes fluttered and he slowly blinked himself back to consciousness. His eyes landed on Danny for a short moment with a tiny upwards quirk of the left corner of his mouth, before he was drawn in by the voice of the guide at his side again.

“Come on, boss”, Kono said quietly by his side. “You’re bleeding, probably need stiches. Steve is alright.”

“Yeah, sure. Thanks, Kono.”

She smiled warmly at him and Danny’s mind was shortly brushed by a feeling of strength, warmth and fondness that he had begun to associate with Ohana, although this time something bitter did lay underneath it all as well. But he was too exhausted to really care, and besides it was impolite to dig yourself into the mind of someone else.


	2. With Regards from the Sentinel Center of Hawaii

“Excuse me, I shall meet with Steven McGarrett here?” A blond woman stood in the middle of their office, looking demanding around herself.

The day had started peacefully. Danny had buried himself into the paper work of last week and that was a bitch, so he was glad no call or case came in. Chin and Kono tested some software update on their computer and looked up in surprise. Before they could answer, Steve strode out of his office.

“I’ve got that”, he said in a calm voice. Danny wasn’t betrayed by that, he could feel Steve’s annoyance even through the shields he always had drawn up around him.

“Steve McGarrett.” He hold out his hand to the woman. “I assume you’re the guide the Center had mentioned in their letter?”

“Yes, Lori Weston. Nice to meet you.” They shook hands.

“Come on, I’ll show you around.” Steve strode forward and Lori followed, looking a little perplexed that she wasn’t introduced to the rest of the team.

Danny smiled secretly into his papers.

Ever since Steve had declared to be part of the reserves, the Sentinel Center of Hawaii had made constant efforts to provide the first A-class Sentinel stationed on Hawaii for ages with a sustainable guide.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t an easy task. Finding a guide that could match up with an A-class sentinel was very hard. Furthermore, Steve was a sentinel with a military background. He had lost his first guide in a battle, never fully bonded ever since and on top of that had expectations and made demands on his future guide that were way beyond a normal training for a guide. A military guide was out of the question since Steve wasn’t an active SEAL anymore. If he ever returned on duty, they would probably line up all the newly trained military guides in front of Steve and let him choose a new one every week if he wished to do so. But for now, guides found and trained by the Center was all Steve got.

When Steve had partnered with Danny on their first case of solving the murder of his father he hadn’t known that Danny was a guide. As soon as he did, though, he had tried to make the request to be registered as Danny’s bonded partner as well, but the Center wouldn’t hear any of it. Danny came to Hawaii as a registered and classified general guide, which meant he wasn’t able to bond with any sentinel although he could work with any. Being a general guide meant being useless as his skills didn’t suffice for a sentinel, let alone one like Steve. Danny liked to refer to himself as a first-aid-guide: patch up the wounds before the surgeon could step in and get the job done properly.

He wasn’t really bothered by that, but seeing Steve occasionally being set up with a strange guide and disappearing for a couple of days to get their compatibility tested gnawed on his ego.

Chin poked his head through the door into his office. “How long?”

Danny mused over Lori Weston for a while. She seemed tough enough for Steve’s liking. “Longer this time. Two weeks.”

“Two weeks, brah? No, I say it’s four days!”

“For days?” quipped Kono and stepped into the office with crossed arms. “I say forty-eight hours.”

“Deal!” Danny grinned. He always felt a bit bad when they bet on how long the guide would endure Steve, but in the end, they were always right. None would last longer than a month tops. Their job was stressful, Steve was a highly trained military sentinel, who had no self-regard and often forgot that his temporary guide lacked the background and training he had.

To all their surprises, Lori Weston kept up with Steve for a month. She was a FBI profiler that helped them more than once with a case or two. Kono already pulled a face because she had lost her money on Danny again (and probably because she wasn’t the only lady in their offices anymore). The air between Chin and Lori was arctic but professional. The two of them didn’t seem to be able to stand the other for reasons unknown to Danny. He didn’t explore that further, for his own good. 

However, seeing Steve with the same guide on a regular basis didn’t do him any good. He hated to admit it to himself, but he was jealous. He knew that he couldn’t bond with any sentinel (which included Steve) but being his partner for so long without the interference of another guide did let him think that Steve was, well, his. 

Sharing wasn’t a strong streak in Danny’s personality when it came to people he liked. 

He dared the day when both Steve and Lori would walk into the office wearing matching bracelets that would mark them as a bonded pair to everyone officially. 

But the strange thing was, it never happened. Steve didn’t say anything about it, but one day Lori declared that she would go to California, although she would happily assist the team in any case, should they need her. She said it with a light smile on her lips, so neither the last three months with Steve nor their separation lasted heavy on her heart. 

Chin and Lori even shook their hands with a friendly air around them as she said her good-byes and Danny was kind of relieved that Steve again stood closest to him in meetings.

Maybe that was egoistic, but he couldn’t help the joyful hopping of his heart.


	3. Music was my first love

“Hey, guys, look what I’ve gooot!” Grinning like a Cheshire cat, Kono strode into the office. She waggled some colored stripes of paper in front of their faces.

“Stop the fussing, kiddo”, said Danny and tried to read the letters on the paper stripes. “What’s got you buzzing with too much excitement at these unholy temperatures on a morning?”

“The Aloha Festival! There will be surfing and party and music! I got exclusive tickets for all of us! Manolo, my cousin, he –“

“Whoa, there! Kono, just a sec”, interrupted Steve. “You got tickets for us? Why?”

“Well, I thought, we’d celebrate a year of Five-0?” She looked young and innocent and Danny had to remind himself really hard of the mean roundhouse kick she was capable of.

Steve smiled at that, he honest to God smiled, but it was sad and sorry. “Kono, that’s really nice of you, but you have to go without me.”

“Why not, boss?” Her lower lip jutted out in a slight pout.

Steve’s voice was soft as he answered her. It wasn’t the first time they had this discussion, Danny knew. “You know why, Kono. Loud music, flashing lights, intense smells. I’ll be in danger of a flash back and you wouldn’t want me to zone among these people. The less stressful situations I’ll load upon me the better.”

“Yeah, cause your job isn’t stressful at all”, she muttered.

“You know my test results are not good, Kono. That’s why we have to hand over so many cases lately. I’m sorry, but I’ve been a long time without a bonded guide and I’m afraid it’s slowly catching up with me. I’m not twenty anymore.”

They all knew that Steve’s condition was not at its best. They all had tried to ignore the big elephant in the room, but here it was again, trumpeting loudly directly into their ears.

Kono swallowed stubbornly, her eyes bright. “You still have Danny, boss.”

The big lump Danny had been carrying around for weeks sagged heavy in his stomach. He wasn’t able to help Steve in the slightest and watching him falling apart oh so slowly drove him insane. He wanted to claw his eyes out, would sell his heart in an instant, just to be able to do something for his partner. But he was just useless ballast, only able to stabilize Steve enough for the few cases they were allowed to work on.

Steve looked at him and Danny felt his shields quiver. He pushed his own energy into them without thinking.

“Ok, but just an hour.”

“Ok? Ok?!” Danny puffed out his chest. “You’re gonna hurt yourself, Steve. Serious brain damage, remember what the doctor said?”

“It will be fine, Danno. I know you’ll be guiding me through it.”

And just like that, Danny’s rant deflated into nothingness.

-

They were all cautious as the big day arrived, the nervous energy jumping from one to the other and back again. But it was a nice evening, the sun setting warmly over the ocean. The beers were cold and the snacks delicious and slowly they found their relaxed vibe again that had been missing for too long now.

They walked around the festival, Steve close to Danny’s side, but that was totally okay, since Steve’s shields were strong and he looked content and happy. He didn’t dare to go near any crowd, although that was a tricky task, and Danny knew that there were some sentinel-approved earplugs in one of the pockets of his cargo pants, in case the music became too obnoxious. 

After some time Danny became a little bit stressed though.

“Brah, you alright?” asked Chin worried, thinking that it had something to do with Steve. But the big goof nursed his second Longboard and looked at Danny with questioning eyes as well.

Danny shifted uncomfortably. “I need to pee. And I don’t want you”, he jutted his finger in Steve’s direction, “to follow me into one of those stinking containers they call portapotty.”

“Then go, Danny. We’ll wait here. I’m fine”, he added as Danny opened his mouth to protest. “In fact I feel better today than I had for days now. I have my earplugs, I have Chin and Kono with me and I bet you won’t take too long returning to me.” And he honest to God winked at Danny.

Danny still tried to process the wink when he asked: “You sure?”

“Yes, Danno.”

He growled and pressed his half-empty Longboard in Kono’s hand. “You watch him. I’ll hurry.”

“Yes, boss” grinned Kono, and Danny dashed off.

Danny weaved through people, trying to be polite and mutter an apology when he pushed them aside or squeezed through. His full bladder wasn’t actually in front of his mind, but Steve. Steve without a guide amongst noise, stench and flashing lights. He raced towards the sign saying “Toilets” behind all the food trucks and stopped dead in his tracks, disbelieving. There were like five toilets for what seemed the whole festival.

“I’m sorry, is this the queue for pissing?” he asked a man in front of him.

“Yeah, man. But you can just take a piss behind them, the ladies are the ones having trouble here.” He grinned broadly.

Danny swore, because he normally wouldn’t contaminate nature, but this was an emergency. By the time he was finally done and worked his way back to his team, a headache had manifested itself inside his skull and was pounding against his shields he had drawn up against the onslaught of feelings from several hundred people around him. Something was wrong here. Danny ran, ignoring the protests of his knee and the angry shouts of people he accidentally shoved out of his way.

The closer he came to where Steve, Kono and Chin waited for him, the worse his headache got. Something was wrong with Steve. He knew he shouldn’t have abandoned him. He knew and he had done it anyway. Danny cursed his own damn stupidity.

When he finally arrived at their meeting spot, a crowd had already formed around his friends. He pushed through the people violently until Steve came into view, sitting on the ground and holding his head. At his side was an elderly man Danny didn’t know, but he felt that he was a guide as well.

“What happened?”

They looked up at him. “Steve had a break-down”, Kono said in a quiet voice.

“I’m ok, I just lost it for a second”, Steve said from the ground, face still in his hands. Danny crouched down next to him, although his knee didn’t agree with him.

“I just walked by and it seemed he needed some help”, the man at Steve’s side said. “I was a military guide in my youth, so I know some tricks for surroundings like this when a zone threatens to overtake. Name’s Jack Porter. You his guide?”

“In some way, but only as substitute. Danny Williams.” They shook hands briefly. “Thank you for your help, Mr. Porter. It’s much appreciated.”

“No problem. You take it from here?”

Danny nodded and carefully grabbed Steve by his wrists to pull down his hands. Steve sighed at the contact, because Danny pushed his energy into Steve’s cracked shields. He slowly lowered his fists to glance at Danny. His eyes were bloodshot and his lips were a hard line, but he looked more or less stable.

“Let’s go home, babe.”


	4. Flashback

“Danny, can I speak to you for a sec?”

Danny looked up from the file he was reading and watched as Kono closed the door of his office and took a seat at his desk.

“Sure. How can I help you?”

The fact that Kono didn’t immediately answer with a jibe made his warning bells toll wildly. She looked at him for an unnerving amount of time, before she finally said: “At the festival … the moment you left for the toilets, Steve broke down.”

“Kono, don’t you think I don’t regret that I left him there to himself? I’m asking myself over and over, if-“

“No, boss, please don’t get me wrong here!” Kono interrupted him. “I’m not reproaching you, far from it! I just … well, you sure, you and the boss are not compatible? Because the second you showed up again, he was instantly better, even though that man-“

“Kono, please don’t”, Danny sighed resigned. He had this conversation with Kono often enough. She somehow still had high hopes that her two bosses miraculously would fit as a bonded sentinel-guide-pair despite all the tests and official letters from the Center.

Kono huffed frustrated. “I’m just saying. It seems strange to me.” She looked at him with her big brown eyes. “I don’t wanna know how you feel, brah. You’re constantly rejected. And you would be the perfect match for Steve.” Her eyes are too bright and too shiny. Danny leaned over his desk to grab her hands, although the side of the wooden tabletop bit into his stomach.

“Hey, it’s ok. I’ve known all my life that a bond just wasn’t in the books for me. That’s not a surprise and I can cope with it. Although I would be really glad if I could help Steve more as it is.”

“But it’s just not fair, Danny.” 

He looked at her shell-shocked and wide-eyed, because a tear was rolling down Kono’s cheek and he had never ever seen her do that, not even in severe physical pain. 

They both jumped in their seats as Chin waltzed into the office without knocking. “Guys, Steve’s at the hospital. Cath just called, she is visiting for a couple of days and he had a flashback this morning. He zoned and she was able to pull him out, but she said it was tough and she barely made it. She asked for you to come by and support her as a general guide, Danny. The hospital allowed her to stay as his temporary guide.”

Danny’s insides clenched painfully and he was on his feet and out of his office faster than he had ever been with Chin and Kono hot on his heels.


	5. About today (how close I am to losing you)

Steve had been in the goddamn hospital for too long, he knew that. He felt cranky and betrayed by his own body. The machinery he had oiled for so long no longer functioned properly and the fact that he could do nothing against it frustrated him to no end. To say the least.

Deep down he knew he was dying if he didn’t found his guide and that rather sooner than later, but he pushed that thought successfully out of his mind.

His shields were still unusually less stable than what he was used to. Thanks to Cath, he could go to work again, but he still tired quickly and his focus wasn’t so sharp anymore. Using his senses was out of the question as well, because he wanted to avoid getting caught in any zones again and being brought back to the damned hospital.

Cath hovered over him these days, accompanying him to work and back, never leaving him and sometimes asking Danny for back-up when it would become too strenuous although Steve didn’t work actively any cases any longer. Steve hated it. It was no one’s fault but he felt babysitted and generally unable to live an independent life, something he had done since he was eighteen. 

He wasn’t a help for anyone. In fact, he was a burden that slowed down his own team and bestowed some unwanted vacation on Five-0.

Steve dragged himself to work that day, trying to keep up the happy chatter with Cath although he felt exhausted. At work, nothing exciting happened. Steve was bored out of his mind and stared at some paperwork he volunteered to fill out, since Danny got the day off to go on an excursion with Grace and her scout group.

When his phone hummed softly and the caller ID said “Danno”, his mood lifted noticeably. Cath glanced up from her laptop curiously, as Steve answered joyfully the call.

“You already got lost, Danny?”

No answer. Steve glanced at the display irritated. The connection was still on. “Danny? Did you miss my voice or did you just pocket-dialed me?”

Rustling and breathing, hard, labored. “Everything’s gonna be ok, yes, monkey?” Danny’s hushed voice filtered through the speaker and Steve was immediately on high alert. He noticed Cath from the corner of his eyes coming closer with a worried look on her face. Steve just mouthed Danny at her, before he put the phone on speaker and Cath alarmed the others as silently as possible. Steve didn’t bother, he already had his hearing leveled up.

Chin and Kono entered the office as loud shouting tinged through the tiny speakers. “Ok, now, everybody stays on their asses, no yelling, no screaming, no running and nobody gets hurt! You, give me that!”

Rustling and a starting engine.

“Somebody else with the great idea keeping their phone hidden from me? You honey? No? You sure?” Footsteps. “Hey, grandpa, what are you doing there? You think you’re smart ass or what?” A loud thud and Danny groaning, still trying to reassure a shrieking Grace. Then the line went dead.

No. No, no, no. Not Danny, not Grace. Not so far away from him. Not the guide of their Ohana, his guide somehow. He needed to find them, make sure they were alright, that Danny was alright, that their weak connection that kept Steve running for over two years now didn’t go completely mute. He needed to – 

Steve flinched as a warm hand touched his arm. He blinked a few times at the face in front of him until he slowly recognized Cath again.

“You with us again, Steve?” she asked softly. He nodded and took a shaking breath.

“We need to find them.”

“I know. Chin is already working on the phone signal from Danny’s mobile until we lost it and Kono is inquiring help from HPD and collecting information about the trip from the scout’s center. We will get them, Steve, but first you need to dial your hearing down, yes?”

He nodded again. To dial down one of his senses never was so hard before, but he had to get a grip on himself again or he would be truly useless as a sentinel for Danny.

Slow-moving hours of nothingness followed, interrupted by hectic minutes and desperate phone calls until finally they located the kidnapped bus somewhere deep in the Hawaiian rainforest. Having Cath at his side had helped him through the long uncertainty of Grace and Danny’s whereabouts, but as soon as they got a location, no one was able to argue Steve out of going right for the kidnappers in full SEAL-mode. Steve’s mind hadn’t been this clear in ages and he knew only one goal: getting everyone out of his way to rescue Danny.

He didn’t hear Cath calling. He didn’t care for the other little girls. All his being was focused on Danny: locating his scent, his heartbeat; getting a grip on the pulse under his skin; seeing his blue, blue eyes again; tasting his skin to make sure he truly was whole.

He spotted his blonde hair, a lifeless figure lying across some bus seats, and his heart stopped. There was noise around him, but that didn’t matter. All that mattered was the faint but steady heartbeat, whose unique rhythm Steve had memorized without knowing. He moved forward and collided suddenly with something firm and warm that squeezed the middle of his body. He was on the verge of throwing the obstacle out of his way, as slowly another familiar smell settled over his mind. Slowly he took another breath.

Grace.

All the fight suddenly left Steve and he dropped to his knees, embracing a shaking Grace and burying his nose in her hair.

“Uncle Steve, you found us!”

“Sh, it’s over, sweetheart. I’m here now.”


	6. The Test

Kono stepped up to Chin, her mouth a determined grim line. “Cuz, we need to do something.”

Chin looked up from his computer, surprised at her tone of finality. “About what?”

“You know about what. Steve without a guide. Danny being a guide, but not Steve’s. About them being a pair.”

Chin crossed his arms and eyed his cousin quizzically. “You do know what their tests say, though?”

Kono threw her hands up. “Of course, that’s what everybody keeps telling me. But honestly, Chin, that’s a glorious pile of bullshit. You remember that shootout with those gun dealers? When Steve was struck by that grenade?”

“Yeah, a paramedic guide pulled him out of his zone.”

“Yes, but Steve only really calmed down when he saw Danny on his feet again.”

Chin sighed. “Yeah, but cuz, you can’t take that as-“

“Why didn’t Steve and that Lori Weston bond?” inquired Kono, overriding her cousin’s objection.

He shrugged. “I don’t know, they weren’t compatible!”

“No!” Kono poked a finger at Chin. “I’ve seen the tests, they were highly compatible. Steve just wasn’t interested. And don’t tell me Danny didn’t look happy to you as she left.” She crossed her arms and looked at him challenging. “Steve has gone feral, cuz. He nearly ripped that bus full of kids open just to get to Danny. Do you think that’s coincidence?”

“We’re his Ohana, Kono, he would have probably gone feral when your life was in danger as well. But,” he added cautiously, seeing Kono’s stormy eyes, “maybe there is more to it. What do you wanna do?”

Kono sighed and uncrossed her arms. “That is the point, I have no idea. They’re both determined that they won’t fit.”

They stared at each other in silence for a while. Then Chin said: “Max?”

“What about him?”

“Maybe he knows something about the whole testing issue for sentinels and guides. He’s a doctor after all.”

Kono nodded. “Sounds good. Come on!”

-

They walked into Max’s lab, greeted with classical music. Before either of them could open their mouths, Max raised a finger with closed eyes, enjoying a wild piano solo, before the music stopped and he scurried over to his workplace to write something down hastily.

“Who died?” he asked without looking at them.

“Uhm, no one” answered Kono. “Well, not yet.”

That made Max look up. He studied their faces for a second. “Commander McGarrett?”

Kono sighed: “That obvious, huh?”

Max shrugged. “He has gone feral and after being over several years without a bonded guide, his system is slowly failing and shutting down. That’s the course of nature. Unfortunately.” 

“Kono had an idea, though” Chin spoke up. “She is convinced that Danny could be Steve’s guide. What do you think? That possible?”

That Max mulled over this and didn’t outright point out the impossibility of that idea gave Kono hope.

“Do you know when Danny last had been tested?”

Chin and Kono looked at each other. “Probably in his youth?”

“Just look up his file.” Chin strode over to Max’ computer.

Kono laughed disbelieving. “Since when are you so criminal, cuz? Looking up files of police officers is not legal.”

“Since when does Five-0 something legal?” Chin cracked and hit some buttons on the keyboard. Danny’s file popped up and Kono tried to read not too many personal information while searching for the test results of his guide classification.

“There!” pointed Max out and Chin clicked open a separate file. Different charts, analyses and reports filled the screen and Kono was a bit overstrained by the sheer amount of information, but Max snorted at Chin’s side.

“That is ridiculous. That is nothing! One test and that in the early 90s?” ranted Max so heatedly that both Kono and Chin stared at him with wide eyes. “I’m sorry, but that is just negligent. The test methods from that time are long outdated. The Center should have at least made another check-up.”

Murmuring under his breath Max went around his lab, collecting some things seemingly at random and then walked over and out of the door. When Kono and Chin didn’t follow, too perplexed to get moving, he poked his head back in. “You coming?”

-

A sleepy looking Danny opened the door as the three of them finally made it over to him late in the afternoon. He instantly looked alarmed. “What happened?”

Kono felt a jab of ice into her heart at that. Since when was the first assumption that something bad had happened to their Ohana (to Steve) when they saw each other?

Max had no time for such trivialities. “We need to make a few tests.”

“Tests? What tests?” Danny asked bewildered, but stepped aside to let them in. “The doctors said everything was alright with my head, an ugly swelling, some bruises and a mild concussion. That’s why I’m on sick leave. So what tests do I need to endure?”

“Everything’s ok, brah. We just need to … clarify something” Chin tried to reassure Danny. Obviously that didn’t work. “Clarify? What about me needs clarification?”

“Please, Danny. We’ll tell you, but first we need the test results.” Kono looked at him with pleading eyes. She shortly felt Danny brush over her mind, soft as a breeze. Whatever it was he felt it made him slump slightly.

“Alright. Whatever you want.”

Seeing a defeated Danny was scary. He ranted and talked and put his heart into every action. This was just … a colorless version of the man Kono knew and loved as a friend. 

They settled in the living room and Max set up his transportable lab. Danny eyed the equipment warily, but said nothing. Max took a bit of his blood and his salvia and mixed it up with chemicals, setting the samples into one machine and then another. After a while, the printer spit out several pages with a lot more complicated diagrams and charts than Kono had seen originally in Danny’s file.

Max regarded the results, humming faintly, but saying nothing. Kono thought she might burst with curiosity if someone just wouldn’t say anything right now.

“Did I pass?” Danny broke first. His shoulders were tense and he looked about to jump from the couch and shake the answer out of Max.

“Well”, Max started, which wasn’t doing anything for the tension in the room. He cleared the table of some of his equipment and pulled out a folder. “Chin and Kono came to me, because they were worried about Steve. And you. We were worried about you both.”

Danny looked form one to the other, his psychic energy briefly brushing through the room. He still didn’t say anything.

“Kono thought – and I have to agree with her – that your test results from your first classification might not be up-to-date. So we decided to do a re-run, which we just did. But we also went to the hospital to get the reports on Steve, as a reference value.”

“What?” Danny looked properly confused now.

“Look, brah”, Chin interfered. “We had the suspicion that something was wrong. So we investigated. Sorry for the late induction, but we first had to collect reasonable information. We went to the hospital to get Steve’s reports. It was kind of hard work, but we got them. Unfortunately, they also told us that Steve is suffering from FBS, False Bonding Syndrome.”

“He – you – what?”

“FBS occurs when the body is convinced having found a positive bonding match and starts with the bonding process, which mainly means hormone production, although the other part – the match – doesn’t react to the bonding. That could be because that person is already bonded or shows no interest due to other circumstances”, explained Max with a blank face.

Danny opened his mouth, but not a sound came out. Chin hastily rattled on, before Danny found his voice again and they wouldn’t be able to explain things further.

“It had to be someone that Steve could have latched onto in the last months according to the hospital staff. So we contacted all the guides he was in contact with lately and asked them for their recent test results.

Max opened his folder at that and pulled out a sheet of paper. “That is Commander McGarrett’s report. This chart is showing his normal sentinel hormone level.” He pointed on a diagram with a zippy line. “And that is the paramedic, Ms. Summers, who helped Steve after his zone on a stunt grenade.” He laid another chart next to Steve’s. The lines didn’t even come close. “This is Lori Weston, and this Lieutenant Catherine Rollins.” Two other charts were packed on top of Ms. Summers’ record. The chart of Lori mirrored loosely the result of Steve’s chart, the one of Cath was even closer. “This is Mr. Porter, the guide you met at the festival –“

“You contacted Mr. Porter?” interrupted Danny for the first time. Kono was surprised that he was so quiet all the time. He eyed the line of Mr. Porter’s chart (a solid curve, no ups and downs like Steve’s), utterly taken aback.

“Of course. We needed to find the one causing Commander McGarrett to imprint on falsely. Uhm.” Max hesitated before he pulled out the last record he had in his folder. “Please don’t be mad, Detective Williams.”

“Why? Whose result is this?” He glance at the almost perfect matching lines except for some divergences at the peaks. “This looks like you found your guide.” Finally, he glanced up at them.

Kono shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “That is Grace’s test, Danny.”

It was like watching a volcano erupt. Danny was still before visibly swelling and getting a little red in the face, and the words finally made their way out.

“You tested Grace? Without my knowing? How could you do that? You know I trust all of you with her life and now you’re what? Trespassing that boundary and going to a little girl and asking her to do a test she doesn’t understand?”

“We asked Rachel”, said Chin sheepishly.

“Oh, you asked Rachel! Does this make all of this any better? So you were brave enough to inform my ex-wife, but not me?! I’m her father and by the way, I’m your boss, too, so it would have been nice if you could have come to me instead and asked me, because she is my daughter and I would be glad to know if she was about to do a test that maybe or maybe not identified her as a potential guide! I thought we were Ohana! Do you do that to your Ohana? I don’t get it, why –“

During his rant, Max had put the last sheet with the test results on top of Grace’s. The outcome was almost one hundred percent identical with Steve’s. Danny stopped mid-rant. The silence was heavy, until Danny broke it again. “Looks like you’ve found your guide then. There, ask this poor schmuck, maybe he can give you the answers you want!”

“Danny, this is your test”, Chin said calmly. 

“Impossible. The Center tested me. I’m a general guide.”

“I apologize, Detective, but that test was executed a long time ago and in the meantime, methods became more precise. The test you did in your youth just wasn’t able to distinguish your very complex and very rare hormone structure from an unmatchable one. You are indeed able to bond, your hormones just are so specific that you can only bond with a very exclusive type of sentinels. Like Commander McGarrett is one.”

Heavy silence followed that declaration. Kono held her breath, desperate for Danny to just say anything, but he stared at the result papers in front of him. She threw Chin a worried glance and he shrugged slightly with his shoulder. Just wait, cuz, he’ll get there.

Eventually, Danny looked up, insecurity in his eyes. “Grace is a guide?”

Max nodded. “Yes, with training she’ll be a very good one, considering the fact that she was able to pull Steve out of is feral state with minimal effort. I’m very sorry we tested her without your consent, Detective.”

Danny waved him off. “I somehow knew it anyway. What does that mean for Steve, though? With his FBS?”

“Well, I guess it’s not. Not FBS”, clarified Max. Somehow listening to his explanations calmed Danny down. “My guess would be, he is in actual bonding stress, because you learned to seal yourself off from others as a self-protective move and therefore also literally blocked potential mates out.”

“So I’m compatible? With Steve?!” croaked Danny. “Oh shit.”

-

Steve lay in his bed and stared at the ceiling. When he concentrated hard enough, he could see the pores in the cement. It was too quiet in this sentinel approved room, soft colors, soft edges, soft everything. He hated it.

No one had shown up today and he felt a bit betrayed. Surely the others must know that he was bored out of his mind. Why didn’t they come over? Or called? There was a phone sitting on his bedside table that was eerily quiet. 

Nurse Nalani had poked her head into his room, asked if he was ok and left after checking his vitals. Aside from breakfast and a light lunch, that had been his only highlight for today so far. He missed his friends, he missed their office and their work (even paperwork), he missed the ocean and the beach, missed the Camaro, but most of all he missed Danny’s rants and their carguements, drinking beer together on his lanai, hearing his laugh, seeing his eyes. Being reassured by his steady heartbeat, centered by his scent.

Oh God, he was so far gone. The doctors had informed him about FBS, but Steve was helpless. He just couldn’t let it go. The memories of Danny were the only anchors he currently could hold onto or he would drown fast and easy.

Footsteps came closer and walked away again. A bird sang somewhere out there in a palm tree. His own heartbeat was slow and languid. When the door opened, Steve didn’t bother to look away from the window. The door closed slowly and all the noises died away. The silence wasn’t heavy on his ears, far from it; it felt like fresh air, a salty breeze splashed with water. Like the ocean. Blue under the sun. Blue. Danny.

Steve turned his head too fast, his vision dizzy and blurry for a moment until his eyes had adjusted to the sight of Danny standing at the foot of his bed. A smile started to spread over his face, but it faltered as Danny just stood there silent, looking at him with an unreadable expression.

Steve opened his mouth to ask what the fuck was going on, because a quiet Danny was never a good sign. Then he felt the air shift. The air around Danny to be precise. It was as though someone slowly switched an old black-and-white-television to colors. The filtered and stale air gradually filled with a scent so intoxicating Steve had to blink or he would go cross-eyed. A warm feeling started to crawl down his spine to settle snuggly into his belly. It didn’t feel unfamiliar, more like a long forgotten dream. Home. And then it hit him fully. Danny’s heartbeat roared in his ears, clearer than ever, and he could taste the nervousness in the air that came straight from Danny. As well as the tension, the anticipation, the sweat and the fucking, mind-blowing musk that knocked his brains out. Mate.

Steve scrambled up, ripping some IVs out in the process. He couldn’t care less. Danny looked a little freaked out at the sudden movement, but he didn’t step back. Steve didn’t understand what broke down, because Danny had never smelled like that before. Or looked so delicious. He was out of his bed before he knew it, standing tall before the guide that had always felt the rightest, but also slightly off, as if there was a veil between them. But that veil didn’t exist anymore.

Steve hesitated, suddenly afraid to close the last gap. His mind was too unfocused to comprehend the whole situation, but deep down an old fear raised its head. What if that wasn’t real?

“Danno?” he rasped, feeling like standing on thin ice. He was captivated by those blue, blue eyes, unable to move or even look away.

“Yeah, babe.” Danny lifted one hand and tentatively touched Steve’s cheek. This minimal contact was enough to break down the last doubts and restrains that were left inside Steve. He lunged forward, pressing himself against Danny, who just sighed as if the same doubts that had been lasting on Steve were lifted into oblivion. He buried his nose in the crook of Danny’s neck, inhaling deeply like a man taking his first breath in ages.

Mate. My mate.

Steve couldn’t resist the urge to memorize his mate in every way possible. He licked at the skin behind Danny’s ear. His taste exploded on his tongue like a firework and set his whole body aflame. Steve wasn’t aware that he had backed Danny against the wall of the room until they hit it. Danny gasped and that drew Steve’s attention away from the neck that was now peppered with red bite marks (and when did that happen?) to his face again. Steve just stared at him, indecisive of what to do next, when Danny moved. Their lips met and all lights went out.

Everything was a haze after that. Danny’s lips against his, hungry and pliant, were his lifeline. His thundering heartbeat everything that counted. He was fire and Danny was the churning sea and they met with hissing heat and smoke. 

“Mine”, he whispered between kisses. “My mate. Alaka’i.”

Danny gasped and writhed underneath him. “Yes, mate. Kahu.”

**Author's Note:**

> Well, guys, that escalated quickly. I just wanted to write something short and easy. Turns out, I'm unable to. I hope you enjoy it. 
> 
> I've just watched a couple of episodes of Hawaii Five-0, because I feel the fanfiction is even better than the show and I don't have to put up with all the girlfriends the boys drag along *lol*
> 
> Also, I've never watched The Sentinel, but again - the fanfiction got me hooked on the concept.


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